Kosis
Namibia Literacy Trust (NLT) recently handed over sewing machines to a group of about 30 women at Kosis settlement for their dressmaking project.
The trust uses adult literacy and its education programme to improve the livelihoods of people.
Spokesperson of the tailoring project Anna Joseph last Thursday narrated that most of the women are unemployed but have requisite skills and the ability to sew dresses and many types of traditional attire.Joseph indicated that the women are capable of doing more because of the very good skills they have in the sewing business, as they have been sewing clothes for domestic purposes and some have sold their products for little profit within their community.
She says the aim is now to work with advanced machines and their sharpened skills gained at a training workshop that was organised by the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) last December in Keetmanshoop, in order to produce quality products that can be sold at competitive prices. The women are, however, struggling to secure business premises from where they can operate at the settlement, and Joseph appealed to the //Kharas Regional Council to give them land or even one of the old buildings that are unoccupied but her efforts have been in vain, as nothing has been done yet.
Joseph explained that one of the buildings was given to a group of men to set up their project but they have not started anything yet and thus she will again engage the respective leaders so that the building is availed to them because there are already people that are on standby to renovate the building for them.
At a ceremony to handover the machines donated by the NLT, the trust’s manager Michael Jimmy said the donation was long overdue considering the fact it was initiated two years ago.He said the donation would enable the women to make a living from their skills and use their God-given talents to improve their livelihoods, adding that the project should be able to gradually become a big business in the region as well as the entire country. I hope one day this small project will turn into a factory, I hope one day I can wear a T-shirt proudly made in Kosis,” he remarked.He further indicated that the trust would also be responsible for hiring a coordinator for a year to help the group with administration work and also fork out for the group’s electricity expenses for 12 months. He encouraged the women to work hard and realise their dreams and feed their families through their efforts, adding that should no work be done, the right remains with the regional council to seize the machines and give them to a group that will use them productively.